Collegium

The Dickinson Collegium is a select ensemble of about 24 singers open by audition to all Dickinson students as well as community members. Under the leadership of Professor Blake Wilson, the Collegium has earned a reputation for polished performances of challenging and varied musical literature, and the group’s annual Christmas concert draws standing-room audiences to Old West’s beautiful Memorial Hall, which is specially decorated for the occasion.

The group explores a wide range of vocal chamber music from Renaissance madrigals to 20th-century repertory. Recent performances have included Renaissance mass settings by Victoria and Josquin, a fully staged performance of Purcell’s opera Dido and Æneas, a Bach cantata and motet with chamber orchestra, and Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols. The concerts are frequently enriched by the participation of guest instrumentalists (harp, lute, recorder, harpsichord, etc.), and there are many opportunities for solos and soloistic ensemble singing.

As a faculty-led Departmental Ensemble, the Dickinson Collegium is a forum not only for intimate and enjoyable music-making, but is a unique setting for the exploration of vocal technique, foreign languages, fine music literature, and finely-tuned group activity of the highest order. Collegium members take great pride in the group’s accomplishments, and find it one of their most satisfying activities at Dickinson. The group toured in Italy in 2003, and expects to travel in Europe again in the spring of 2007.

The Collegium rehearses on Tuesdays from 6:15 to 7:30, and Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:30, in Rubendall Recital Hall. Members agree to abide by a strict attendance policy.